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About NUI Galway

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Biography

John Laffey is the Professor of Anaesthesia at the School of Medicine of the National University of Ireland, and a Consultant in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine at Galway University Hospitals.

Research Interests

Professor Laffey’s major research interest is centred on investigation of the pathophysiology of, and development of therapeutic strategies for Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), a devastating disease which causes severe respiratory failure in critically ill patients, and for which there are currently no specific therapies. More people die every year from ARDS than from other better known diseases such as HIV, Breast Cancer or Asthma.

Professor Laffey founded and lead the lung biology group at NUI Galway. His research group are currently conducting studies into the pathogenesis of ventilation and sepsis Acute Lung Injury. The current focus is on the investigation of the therapeutic potential of gene and stem cell based therapies for Acute Lung Injury. This work is being done in collaboration with colleagues from the Regenerative Medicine Institute (REMEDI) at NUI Galway. A long term focus of Professor Laffey’s work had been on determining the safety and therapeutic potential of hypercapnic acidosis in septic and inflammatory disease models of Acute Lung Injury.

Professor Laffey is a principal investigator at the National Centre for Biomedical Engineering Sciences, and a Clinical Trials Investigator at the HRB Clinical Research Facility at the National University of Ireland, Galway. The translation of promising therapeutic strategies emerging from these pre-clinical studies to the clinical setting, through the Clinical Research Facility, and in collaboration with the Irish Critical Care Trials group, is a priority.

Professor Laffey is co-principal investigator in the first investigator led multi-centre trial conducted in critically ill patients in Ireland. This study, termed the HARP-2 study, aims to determine whether statin therapy might help people suffering from ARDS.

Additional clinical research interests include the investigation of the utility of novel devices and technologies for management of the airway, and investigation of novel approaches to postoperative analgesia.

'Evolution of the Inflammatory and Fibroproliferative Responses during Resolution and Repair after Ventilator-induced Lung Injury in the Rat'
Curley, GF,Contreras, M,Higgins, B,O'Kane, C,McAuley, DF,O'Toole, D,Laffey, JG (2011) 'Evolution of the Inflammatory and Fibroproliferative Responses during Resolution and Repair after Ventilator-induced Lung Injury in the Rat'. Anesthesiology, 115 :1022-1032 [DOI] [Details]

'Strengthening the evidence base for airway equipment: time to become more ‘ADEPT’?'
Laffey, JG (2011) 'Strengthening the evidence base for airway equipment: time to become more ‘ADEPT’?'. Anaesthesia, 66 (8):656-658 [Details]

'Strategies that attenuate the Inflammatory response to Cardiac Surgery. Current Opinion in Anaesthesiology'
Maharaj C, Laffey JG (2004) 'Strategies that attenuate the Inflammatory response to Cardiac Surgery. Current Opinion in Anaesthesiology'. Current Opinion in Anaesthesiology, [Details]

A systematic approach to maximising aerosol delivery of adeno-associated viral (AAV) vector to the lungs. British Association for Lung Research (BALR), 'Gene and Stem Cell Therapies for Lung Diseases', National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Ireland.
MacLoughlin R, Higgins B, Laffey J, O'Brien T (2007) A systematic approach to maximising aerosol delivery of adeno-associated viral (AAV) vector to the lungs. British Association for Lung Research (BALR), 'Gene and Stem Cell Therapies for Lung Diseases', National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Ireland. Abstract [Details]

Strengthening the evidence base for airway equipment: time to be more 'ADEPT'?.
Laffey, JG (2011) Strengthening the evidence base for airway equipment: time to be more 'ADEPT'?. Editorial [DOI] [Details]